Deputy Policy Director

The Impact Position is looking for an agile, detail-oriented self-starter who thrives in a fast paced environment. Not quite a start up, but not a fully idealized decades long operation either, to be successful at our organization you will need to enjoy initiating, working on, and completing dozens of tasks at once with a great attitude, follow-through, and a meticulous eye for detail. 

The Deputy Policy Director is our seasoned policy expert working to fuel change on economic and democracy issues while building transformational power for progressives. They develop innovative policy solutions, translate them for issue area campaigns, and create opportunities for policy wins in the areas of economic reform (i.e., worker pay and benefits, health care, education and tax fairness) and democracy (i.e., voter access and election administration and money in politics reforms). They report to the Senior Policy Director and are a leader on the policy team, mentoring their colleagues and building meaningful partnerships with state and national policy experts. 

This position will be working on a wide range of policy issues so while they don’t need to be the expert in every issue area, they need to be connected to the network of experts and be able to get the information and analysis needed to drive the policy work. And all along the way, they bring new, outside-the-box approaches to accelerate change.

The Deputy Policy Director directly reports to the Senior Policy Director. The position is full time and considered exempt for overtime purposes.  

What You’ll Do 

Support State Teams (50%) 

• Work with state teams to develop ambitious policy agendas. 
• Work with state-based coalitions and policy experts to meet state teams policy needs.   
• Provide rapid response and policy support to assigned state teams to facilitate campaign development, bill drafting, editing and review of fact sheets and talking points, and answering technical questions. 
• Collaborate with TIP’s comms, data, and engagement teams to identify winning issues and help develop winning campaigns. 
• Identify policy best practices and trends across states and share information with state teams. 
• Help build a network of economic security and democracy experts and leverage their expertise at key moments  
• Conduct analysis of existing policies and potential policy and statute changes, including reviewing and analyzing bill language. 
• Analyze costs and benefits of  policy trade-offs and suggest modifications that improve policy while helping bill passage. 
• Dig in on the details of nuanced and complicated policies with experts in our network and translate issues effectively to our state teams.  
• Bring a political lens to policy work in TIP states and across states. 

Leadership & Management (15%) 

• Offer thoughtful advice and counsel to the Senior Policy Director and leadership team on emerging policy issues and development of TIP’s cross state policy work.  
• Serve as a strategic advisor to the Senior Policy Director on development of TIP’s policy program, and political analysis of our work within and across states and collaboration with TIP’s other program teams.  
• Assist with coaching and training the policy team and our state teams on policy issues and developing winning campaigns.  
• Work closely with the Senior Policy Director to ensure that our policy agendas are coming together across states and are aligned with engagement goals. 
• Own and drive key pieces of TIP’s policy innovation agenda. 

Policy Development (20%) 

• Identify and develop innovative policy solutions on emerging issues within the economic and democracy space. 
• Lead policy development projects and contracts, and hold contractors accountable to their scope of work and deliverables.. 
• Cultivate relationships with state and national advocacy groups, policy leaders, and other grasstops with expertise on economic and democracy issues. 
• Identify innovative, next generation policy solutions that truly move the dial on structural economic and democracy reform. 
• Anticipate new and emerging policy trends nationally and across TIP states.  

Strategic Partnerships (10%) 

• Build strong collaborative relationships with state and national policy groups with expertise on economic and democracy issues. 
• Ensure that we have the right mix of experts in our network ready to provide rapid response on policy needs during legislative sessions.  

Qualifications

Who You Are 

You will bring hands-on experience in issue campaigns and/or working with state legislatures. You have a strong understanding of what it takes to win a policy campaign and the systems and structures necessary to help the team flourish. In addition, to be successful at this job you will excel in these areas: 

• Innovator: Ability to think ‘outside the box’ in coming up with new and different ways to tackle issues through policy solutions. 
• Strategic thinker: You can quickly assess policy and translate policy to a campaign environment. You understand and appreciate the communications and organizing aspects of campaign development and implementation. 
• Strong Project Manager: You strive to meet ambitious goals, ask smart questions about strategy, juggle multiple projects simultaneously, and meet tight deadlines.  
• Action-oriented: Your bias is toward getting things done. That doesn’t mean that you don’t do your research first, but you drive work forward with an urgency to see results, pushing through roadblocks and maneuvering around obstacles along the way. You relish The Impact Project’s startup culture, knowing that the path forward isn’t always clear and it’s better to act and iterate as you go than to hold back. Innovation is your comfort zone, and data is your friend. 
• Relationship-oriented: You consider the impact of the process on people and proactively consult with other team members. You exercise diplomacy and flexibility when dealing with sensitive situations to develop cohesive solutions and negotiate successful outcomes. 
• Committed to helping the organization advance internal goals related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), including setting personal DEIB goals.   

Additional Information

What Else You Should Know 

The Impact Project operates in a 100% remote work environment. As COVID safety protocols allow, the employee will travel three to four times a year. 

The hiring range for this position is $100,000 - $122,500 depending on experience. We offer a top notch benefits package. We pay 100% of medical, dental, and vision premiums for you and your spouse/partner and dependents and offer an Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) to cover your deductible. We contribute 3% toward your retirement even if you don’t put in a dime and also match up to 3% of what you contribute to your 401k. We offer three weeks of vacation each year, two weeks of personal leave, nine paid holidays, and four additional floating holidays. We offer individual budgets for professional development, monthly cell phone reimbursement, and a basic home office setup.

The Impact Project is a project of Hopewell Fund, a 501(c)(3) public charity that incubates new and innovative public-interest projects and grant-making programs. Hopewell Fund is committed to attracting, developing and retaining exceptional people, and to creating a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding and enables each of us to realize our potential. Hopewell Fund’s work environment is safe and open to all employees and partners, respecting the full spectrum of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and all other classifications protected by law in the locality and/or state in which you are working.

To center the safety and well-being of its employees, Hopewell Fund requires that any employee who is required to conduct in-person activities for their job must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 within four weeks of their start date. This position may require candidates to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Accommodations may be sought and approved in accordance with the law by contacting human resources at HR @ hopewellfund. org.

Women, people of color, LGBTQ candidates, and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply. To apply, submit your application here!